Octagon First Call

As we hinted last month, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island are more than the grand prize of Klondike’s summer contest, they are creating content for it as well. Check out the digital short TLI created for Klondike, answering the question, “What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar?” The contest micro site can be found at www.klondikecontest.com, stay tuned throughout the summer for further TLI involvement… 

Talent generated shorts can be an effective way to connect with consumers through the media clutter. Campaigns that rely on consumer generated content alone are fairly popular these days; the addition of a creative powerhouse like The Lonely Island to Klondike’s campaign is meant to add interest and importance to the promotion.

As we discussed back in March, the digital short world is becoming a popular place for brands to reach consumers. Klondike has targeted consumers in this fashion, reviving their famed “What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar?” slogan and creating a digital short contest around it.

We’ve brought digital short gurus The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer) into the mix, who’ll serve an integral role in the Summer-long contest. Stay tuned for more info on this front…

We are getting asked more and more by brands and their marketing agencies on ways to use celebrities online. In the past, ways included using their name, likeness and quotes on a Company’s home page or micro-site created for a project (see: RMHC celebrity page).

The next growth area transformed the static page into video. Testimonials, recipe/cooking segments and repurposing of advertising.

And that video effort has quickly changed into the latest — interactive websites that look like TV shows and digital shorts that spread throughout the internet like wild fires. They are great ways of capturing database information and getting immediate feedback from consumers on the look, success and content of the program.

In our opinion, Unilever is the leader in this space. 

Recently, Unilever and their product Dove introduced a “Fresh Takes” program. As their press release says, “Fresh Take uses entertainment and humor to give viewers a look at three 20-something girlfriends as they put their everyday pressures in a fresh perspective. Using the budding micro-series TV format, “Fresh Takes” will broadcast three-minute episodes nationwide during “The Hills“. Unilever has also done similar type efforts with Suave and Bertolli. They were just voted digital marketer of the year by Advertising Age magazine.

(We wrote about Hanes online effort with Sarah Chalke last week).

Before you enter the space, you need to know the Screen Actors Guild online rules, fees and you should check out You Tube’s terms and condition. While you’re at it, check out the rules of Funny or Die created by Will Ferrell.

The next growth area will be brands giving comedians and directors (like Andy Samberg) creative license to create and spread these digital shorts everywhere. Stay tuned…